


A Secluded Meadow

by ArtisanMushrooms



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Before the Deliverance recruits from Ram Village, Eventual Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay, Interal Conflict, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Ram Village, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 05:13:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14205825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtisanMushrooms/pseuds/ArtisanMushrooms
Summary: Tobin likes Gray, although he is always quick to deny it. One day, while Tobin is lazing around on the outskirts of Ram Village, Gray finds him.A little alone time leads to a lot of revelations.Rated Teen because of some cursing: nothing explicit actually happens!





	A Secluded Meadow

**Author's Note:**

> Hey good evening how's it going I am recovering from wisdom teeth surgery.  
> So here's a Gray/Tobin to make the day better!  
> If you didn't read the tags, this takes place before the Deliverance comes to Ram.  
> And I tried to come up with a creative work title, but I decided to go with a straightforward name because my brain's not having it today.

“Tobe! Tobe! Hey, Tobin, you awake?” 

“Oh gods,” Tobin sighed outwardly. He heard the soft crunch of boots on dirt as a familiar face blocked the sun’s rays from bathing Tobin in light. “Just when I find some peace and quiet, you have to show up and ruin it for me.”

“Aw, I’m flattered to hold such an important place in your heart,” Gray cooed, grinning widely. “Mind if I join you?”

The fake glare Tobin had been wearing faded away quickly, replaced by a gentle smile. Gray never failed to make Tobin beam. “Never.”

Gray flopped down in the green Zofian grass, his head resting next to Tobin’s. There was a rustle as Gray settled on the ground and Tobin tipped his head to get a glance of the other boy. Gray met his eyes again and gave a nonchalant wink, which had Tobin’s face burning immediately. He just hoped it was too bright outside to be noticable. 

The small, secluded meadow was flooded with sunlight, filling its every inch. A soft breeze picked up, rustling the trees and making the blades of grass prick at Tobin’s arms. For a moment, there was no noise except the wind speaking to them. Tobin felt his head clear and his shoulders relax into the soft soil, peace finally settling on the two. Often now, when he and Gray were together, they felt the need to keep up conversation less; instead, they were content to just be, and find comfort in each other’s presence. Tobin liked that about hanging out with Gray. It became less about making himself interesting or useful in some way. Gray didn’t need or want anything from him. 

_I do not like Gray_ , Tobin thought to himself suddenly. _I do not_. He had interrupted his own peace of mind. Now, instead of being tranquil, he was disturbed.

 _Shit_ , he thought. _Way to ruin a perfectly good time_.

But these types of thoughts had been infiltrating his thoughts for quite some time now. It had started about two years ago, when he had a… certain dream… about his best friend. Suddenly, he was getting flustered at even the mention of Gray. He would imagine Gray’s lustrous smile, his calming aura, his uncanny ability to make Tobin laugh and yet infuriate him at the same time, his perfect-

Tobin caught himself before he went too far. He could never have Gray: he just had to keep reminding himself of that. His own wanting for Gray was making him severely uncomfortable. Tobin knew his inability to cope with his new feelings were resulting in an unhealthy denial; but really, when was bottled up feelings not the norm for him?

“Sooooo,” Gray finally spoke, interrupting the whistle of the breeze and Tobin’s internal conflict. “You come here often?”

“Oh, you know, every once in a while. I call this my “Avoiding Gray Spot,” so since you know about it, I guess I can’t come here anymore.”

Gray turned, cocked his head, and parted his lips slightly, giving Tobin a blank look. _Shit_ , Tobin cursed mentally again. He had meant to make it sound like a joke, but his forced delivery and clenched teeth made him sound actually angry. _Now he’s gonna start asking questions_.

Tobin tore his eyes away from Gray’s and cleared his throat. “How’d you find me here?”

“Kliff told me he saw you going this way, so I just kinda scouted around and found you eventually.”

“Really? I thought Kliff was messing around with magic with Sir Mycen. Isn’t that where he disappears to every so often?”

“W-well, yeah, I guess, but I just saw him, and- yeah.” Gray sounded oddly… stuttery. Weird. Tobin wasn’t able to give it much thought. “If you want me to leave, just say so.”

“No, Gray, you’re fine. I was just joking about avoiding you. I actually like just lazing around with you.”

Gray let out a sigh. “Me too, Tobe. Me too.”

They rested under the sun silently for a few minutes, long enough for Tobin to get control of himself once again.

“Tobe, do you like anyone in the village?”

“Yeah. You, and Alm, and Faye-”

“No, no, I mean _like_ someone.” Gray said, raising his voice and wiggling his eyebrows.

“Uhh… Why are you asking?”

“Wow, no need to get all defensive.”

“I’m not _defensive_!”

“Right,” Gray giggled. No matter how Tobin inflicted his voice, he was never able to make Gray take him seriously. It sometimes seemed like Gray took everything as a joke. “Well, I like someone.”

 _Of course_ , Tobin felt his shoulders tremble slightly as his stomach suddenly felt very upset.

“Brown hair, beautiful eyes,” Gray said, suddenly quiet and almost timid. “This is how I’m supposed to do this, right?”

“What?”

“Nevermind.” Gray sat up. “Tobin, you mad at me or something?”

 _There it is_ , Tobin breathed. _If I don’t choose my words very carefully_ … 

“No, what makes you say that?”

“You’re being kind of… weird? Standoffish, maybe. I don’t know how to put it. Any reason why? Did I do something?”

It physically hurt Tobin to hear Gray ask if he was upset with him, which was the farest he could be from the truth. But if Gray knew, Tobin could only imagine how disgusted he would be. It just… isn’t natural to like your friend like that, right? Besides, Gray was proud of being a “lady’s man,” as he so often called himself. He had already confessed that he liked someone else.

“I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong, Gray.”

“C’mon, what’d I do, Tobi-poo?”

Tobin felt warm breath against his ears and his face turned an unholy shade of red. His heart started to pick up speed, thumping loudly as he shifted uncomfortably. “You just have to keep calling me that, don’t you? We’re not 6 anymore.”

“Aww, you don’t like my nickname?”

“G-Gray what are you doing?” 

“Oh, nothing.” Tobin felt Gray’s body push up against his own. He was _way_ too close.

Tobin weakly pushed his friend away and rolled over to gain more distance between them. “G-Gray, you need to stop, I don’t want to mess around right now-”

Gray retaliated by sitting up and slowly moving closer. “Aww, why not? _Tobi-poo_ -”

“What are you-”

Gray was getting closer. “ _Tooooobin_ , you can’t run away from me~”

His heartbeat was thumping in his ears as he jumped up to his feet. If this kept on, he would regret something, he was sure. Gray was still in the grass with Zofia’s Cockiest Grin on his face. Panicked, Tobin turned to go back to the village, when-

A pair of arms wrapped around his torso and pulled him down to the earth again. Gray was clutching his waist a bit too tightly as Tobin laid on his side, all the wind completely knocked out of his lungs. Gray roughly turned Tobin to face him. 

“I wasn’t finished describing my crush,” Gray whispered, sending chills down Tobin’s spine. Coyness disappeared as soon as it had arrived as Gray gazed up at the trees. “Brown hair, beautiful eyes, amazing at everything he does,” he announced loudly, then studied Tobin’s expression carefully. “Been my best friend for as long as I can remember,” he added in a hushed tone.

Tobin stuttered, “You- you, no-”

“Yeah. So now that I’ve confessed…” Gray removed his hands from Tobin’s waist and sat up. “You can leave. I just needed to get that off of my chest.”

Tobin laid in the grass, unmoving, confused. “What do-”

“I know, _I know_ ,” Gray sighed. “It’s so goddamn weird. Why would I like my best friend like that? Isn’t that _disgusting_? You don’t have to say anything.”

“Gray, that’s not what I’m going to say.”

“Well, what are you-”

Gray couldn’t finish his sentence because Tobin had yanked him down to the ground again. Tobin ran one hand down Gray’s chest and the other through his hair, leaning in close to his astounded friend’s face. He felt almost out of his body at that moment, as something totally un-Tobin-like coursed through him. 

“You really like me?” he said against Gray’s ear. Gray nodded slowly, eyes wide.

“All this time and I thought you would never reciprocate…” Tobin said, almost laughing at his own happiness.

“Wait, Tobe- You-”

“Yes, you dumbass! I can’t believe you never caught on.”

“I thought- Oh, gods- I can’t believe _you_ never caught on! I’ve been such a dope around you for so long!”

“I really never noticed.” Tobin smiled gingerly. “But, now that we both know…”

“Yeah?” Gray grinned and pulled Tobin close, warmth radiating from both of their cheeks. “What now?”

He gazed into Gray’s dark, alluring eyes, wishing they could stay curled up in the meadow forever. Tobin cupped Gray’s face and started to close the gap between their lips, slowly and deliberately, relishing the experience he had wanted for years.

“ _What the fu_ -”

“ _AAHHH_!” both of the boys in the grass screamed as the familiar voice interrupted their moment. Tobin pushed Gray away, rolled, and popped up on his feet, asserting some type of unprepared fighting stance. Gray lay on the ground like a stunned slug.

There, at the entrance of the meadow, stood Kliff with his trademark smirk. “Sorry, was I interrupting something?”

“Damn it! How long were you there, Kliff?” Gray sputtered, equally embarrassed and frustrated.

“Oh, you know, a few minutes.”

“You little shit.”

“Yeah, nothing I haven’t heard before,” Kliff chuckled, waving a hand lightly. “But I’m glad you two finally came to. Me and Faye were starting to place bets.”

“ _You all knew_? Who else?”

“Of course we did, we’re pretty good friends with you guys. Plus, we’ve got good gaydars.”

Tobin’s brow furrowed. “Gay- What?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing.” Kliff shook his head. “But no one else knows except me and Faye, so your secret’s safe with us. Alm doesn’t even know, but that’s not surprising because he’s less perceptive than you two apparently are. Anyways, I’ll be on my way. I just gotta tell Faye about our _recent development_.” Kliff winked, then disappeared down the forest path.

The two villagers watched Kliff as he left, then turned to each other once again.

“So you, uhh…” Gray mumbled, blushing as he glanced away. “You wanna-”

“Do I wanna go back to the village and do my chores? Yeah, how’d you guess?”

“Tease,” Gray huffed bitterly, but grinned.

“Hey, I gotta give you some of your own medicine sometimes.”

“What!? _Me_? I have no idea what you could possibly be implying. You’re delirious.”

“Uh-huh, sure. Actually, now I’m really thinking about going back.”

“ _Nooooooo_ , Tobi-poo, let’s finish what we started,” Gray said, winking and discreetly approaching the other boy. All thoughts of being playfully incompetent fled Tobin’s mind as Gray wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and all he could think about was the stunning boy in front of him.

The kiss was everything Tobin had dreamed of, and so, so much more. Gray was soft, mellow, wonderful, and his touch made Tobin’s skin shimmer. He felt Gray’s hands wandering across his shoulders, his back, his chest, and it made him feel thoroughly complete, like this moment was what he had been waiting for his entire life.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this to happen,” Gray breathed into Tobin’s neck, making him shiver again.

“Me too,” Tobin gasped, then his lips found Gray’s once more.

**Author's Note:**

> The ending is a little rushed, but I really couldn't find a relevant way to end!  
> This ended up being longer than I anticipated. Still not entirely satisfied, but I’ll probably edit it later on. Honestly I'm not that great at sappy stuff, but I'm getting there!  
> Hope you all enjoyed.


End file.
